Monthly Archives: January 2015

You may have noticed that the Duck Golf Finals are coming up in Burnaby in March, you may also have noticed that it is scheduled to be 2 one day events. The whole plan behind that is to increase event capacity, so that hopefully we don’t need to turn anyone away.

So before I open registration, I’m trying to determine which divisions will play which day in order to maximize event capacity. If we use Mission as an example, of the 94 people current registered (including the waiting list):

Pros account for 31 players, we may get a few more for the finals, but I don’t overall expect that this will increase dramatically in size (approximately 60 different people have played Pro so far this season).

Advanced account for 39 players (all flavours), and we could see more turn out for the finals (approximately 87 different people have played in an Advanced division this season)

Intermediate account for 21 players (all flavours), and we could see more turn out for the finals (approximately 55 different people have played in an Intermediate division this season)

Novice I’m not really concerned about this division, at least as it relates to the Duck Golf finals, I don’t expect that it will suddenly explode to the point that it’s a problem.

So, projecting similar numbers, if we split the Pros off by themselves, they would be playing in a half full event, while it’s entirely plausible that we could hit 72+ Amateur players.

At the same time, if we group Pros and all Advanced divisions together, that might over fill…

So, what would people prefer?

Amateurs one day, Pros the next – this allows interested tournament players to watch the Pros play if they are so inclined, which is not generally an option for them.

Intermediate and below one day, Pro/Advanced the next – this makes sense from a course design perspective, everyone playing on each day would play from the same tee pads.

Some other hybrid approach to balance numbers – this might be the least intuitive, but would allow us to have the best balance and flow for both days.

Other suggestions?

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If you haven’t heard the capacity for Mission Possible has been increased to 90 players, at this time we do not expect further capacity expansion. This means that most people who were on the waiting list are now in the event officially, there are however still as of this moment 5 people on the waiting list:

John Silvester

Ed Fogarty

Jeff Schmittlutz

Jan Deny

Josh Evans

Registration will remain open until the Saturday before the event. The TD has also announced that full refunds are accepted until the close of registration but once registration has closed that no refunds will be issued. So if you’re not going to be able to make the event, let us know and we’ll let someone from the waiting list in.

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So if you’re a little late to the party, you might be surprised that 13 hours after the official opening of registration the event’s full and now has a waiting list of 6+ people.

If you want on the play you absolutely should still register, and here’s why:

In almost every event someone who registered ahead of you will drop out of the event before it happens, letting in player’s from the waiting list

TD’s do their best to accommodate people who signup, so the more accurate information they have, the better they can plan

There’s no risk, if you don’t get in the event, you get a full refund

So how do you get on the waiting list?

Fill out the registration form as normal

Complete the payment process as normal

You’re automatically added to the waiting list in the order your registration is received

How do you get off the waiting list?

As spots become available, the waiting list is emptied in the order that registrations were received, the higher your number on the list the sooner you get in

A spot becomes available when someone drops out of the event, for whatever reason, up until the Saturday before the event (end of January) they are able to withdraw and get a full refund (no questions asked)

If the TD is able to increase event capacity without compromising event integrity, by increasing the number of players/pad or by adding holes to the event (these are the normal options, and are currently being investigated)

If you have not yet accepted a spot into the event, you may ask to be removed from the waiting list at any time at which point you will receive a full refund

The event is still several weeks away, so there are options which can be explored, but those options change depending on how many people are on the waiting list, 6 people is fairly easy to try to accommodate, 50 people needs another course.

They are doing a fund-raiser in conjunction with the awards: $20 gets you a burger and a beverage, proceeds to the Fraser Valley Disc Golf Club course fund. You can purchase a ticket through Brad directly or during registration.

War Spear: uses the Shaman flight wing (beadless) and the “thumb track”

“The “thumb track” implementation is unique in comparison to some other discs already on the market in that it has a much more natural feel with a traditional grip.” I haven’t seen or touched the discs, but that’s what the marketing department says.

The possibly good news, or not:

Re-tooling of the Chief: they decided the flight pattern of the previous Chief was too similar to the Shaman (in particular after a break-in period), so this is the result. So if you like the old Chief you may want to stock up while you still can.

The bad news:

Wholesale pricing from Gateway is going up for all their discs, it will probably take a little while to trickle through the system, but you’ll likely end up seeing slightly higher prices for Gateway discs in the near future.

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As far as I know nothing else like this is going on, but it should be. The Disc Cellar is creating some AWARDS! Disc Golfer of the Year! This is year 1, so we’ll see how it goes. We will accept nominations via comments, email, Facebook and Twitter until January 21st, with the aim of having the list of Disc Golfers finalized shortly thereafter and having voting end mid-February-ish.

So yeah, it’s a little bit of a people’s choice award, the proposed categories are:

Professional Disc Golfer of the Year (BC) – ungendered

Professional Women’s Disc Golfer of the Year (BC) – gendered

Amateur Disc Golfer of the Year (BC) – ungendered

Amateur Women’s Disc Golfer of the Year (BC) – gendered

Junior Disc Golfer of the Year (BC) – ungendered

Disc Golf Volunteer of the Year (BC) – ungendered

Disc Golf Tournament Director of the Year (BC) – ungendered

Canadian Disc Golfer of the Year – ungendered

Canadian Amateur Disc Golfer of the Year – ungendered

Canadian Disc Golf Artist of the Year – ungendered

Aside from the honour of being chosen, each BC award recipient will receive a $25 Disc Cellar Gift Certificate, each Canadian award recipient will receive a $15 Disc Cellar Gift Certificate.

Bragging rights only categories:

Canadian Disc Golf Club of the Year

Disc Golf Course of the Year (BC)

Disc Golf Course of the Year (Canada)

Tournament Layout of the Year (BC)

Tournament Layout of the Year (Canada)

Sponsor of the Year (BC)

Sponsor of the Year (Canada)

These awards and nominations are largely arbitrary, but hopefully it will be fun. You can nominate people based on their contribution to the sport, their performance, club development, course development, advocacy, etc…

When nominating, you must include: who you are nominating and which category(ies) you are nominating them for. You can nominate yourself. It also is probably a little helpful if you explain why you’re nominating them, but it’s definitely not required.

Obviously in the more specific categories their achievements should be related to the category.

FAQ

Can I nominate myself? Yes.

Is there a residency or citizenship requirement? Nope, if a Canadian living abroad or a non-Canadian happens to have made the biggest impact in a category they are fair game.

Why are the BC awards bigger? Mostly because we have more confidence that these will be “accurate”.

Is this just a popularity contest? Maybe, we’ll get the nominations, and then present a list of people to vote for. Those people if they choose can campaign. That said, the final winner will not be determined by vote total alone.

The final winner will not be determined by vote total alone? That’s right.

What kind of mumbo jumbo is that? Let’s call it wiggle room, this is a new thing, new process, etc… so if it seems somehow as though the awards have been corrupted or a truly undeserving person would win, we reserve the right to make adjustments. We don’t expect to need to make them, but that’s the fine print.

This seems like a good idea, can I join as a sponsor? Sure, happy to have other people/businesses contribute to the prize pool. Feel free to sponsor one or all categories in whatever way you can.

Can the same person win multiple awards? Only if they’re that awesome! So yes.

Why is the Disc Cellar doing this? Because we can, and someone should.

I have a great idea for another category? Sure go ahead and suggest it.

Is this timeline set in stone? Nope. If we encounter problems during the process, we’ll adjust timelines as necessary.

How will the voting work? With buttons of some sort I expect. Depending on the number of qualified nominees, it might be as simple as picking one person per category. If we get a lot of nominees, we may adopt some sort of bracket based voting system for that category.

How can I help? Nominate someone, or promote the awards to your Disc Golf community so their either nominate or vote.